US’ unprofessional presence main problem in Persian Gulf: IRGC

The presence of US forces is the main problem currently facing the Persian Gulf, an informed source at the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy says.

“Today, it is no secret to anyone that the main problem in the Persian Gulf is the presence of Americans, who try to show that conditions [in that region] are abnormal through [their] inappropriate and unprofessional conduct,” the IRGC source said on Tuesday after Washington falsely claimed that an Iranian vessel had pointed its weapon at a US helicopter in the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

Two US defense officials told Reuters on Monday that a small IRGC vessel had trained its weapon on a US Navy MH-60 helicopter on Saturday as it flew within half a mile (0.8 km) of two Iranian vessels.

The IRGC source referred to the US claims, stressing that Washington must stop spreading false propaganda against Iran.

He added that US officials occasionally level such allegations against Iran, an issue which shows that they “are after certain goals.”

The IRGC official emphasised that international vessels from different countries sail through the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz everyday without any problems, because they observe international regulations; however, it is “only the Americans who seek to make hue and cry and want to create problems with unreal justifications.”

He emphasised that the IRGC Navy is fully prepared and equipped with state-of-the-art technology and monitors all movements in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz to maintain lasting security in this sensitive and strategic region.

The IRGC Navy forces will pay no heed to the US false propaganda and continue to carry out their missions with precision and seriousness, the source pointed out.

Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi, the commander of the IRGC Navy, had also on September 13 dismissed as “sheer lies and untrue” another US claim that an American warship patrolling the Persian Gulf was harassed by Iranian boats.

Pentagon spokesman, Captain Jeff Davis, said on September 6 that seven fast-attack IRGC boats approached the USS Firebolt on September 4 with their machine guns uncovered, though not trained on the Americans.

In January, Iran’s Navy arrested the crews of two US patrol boats that had trespassed on Iranian territorial waters. Iran released them after establishing that they had done so by mistake.

Iran has invariably asserted that it only uses its naval might for defensive purposes and to send across the Islamic Republic’s message of peace and security to other nations.